Mason jar salads are just the best. And even better when you have a mouth-watering recipe that makes them not only superbly convenient but utterly delicious too.

This particular recipe was dreamed up because I wanted to have some paprika in my diet. For vegans and vegetarians iron levels are something to watch, as are the B vitamins. Paprika is full of vitamin A, vitamin E, Vitamin B6 and iron. A man gets 6%, a woman 3% of their RDA from a single teaspoon of iron.

Paprika, when treated nicely, is also very tasty.

I roasted some Brussels sprouts and shallots with a touch of olive oil. I did the same with the apache potatoes which I halved, brushed with olive oil, dusted with salt and pepper and a light dust of paprika. Once these were cooked I let them cool down to room temperature. While they cooled I halved my tomatoes, cut the corn on the cob and made the dressing.

To fill the jar I put about 2 tablespoons of the dressing into the bottom of each jar and dropped in a handful of roast Brussels sprouts and roast shallots. A handful of halved baby plum tomatoes covered these. Then I added the baby corn on the cob. The final part was another small handful of apache potatoes.

When it came to eating this I added crushed roast almonds sprinkled over the top and a large handful of fresh spinach.

Ingredients

Makes 4 masons jars
200g apache potatoes
200g brussels sprouts
200g shallots
400g baby plum tomatoes
200g baby corn on the cob
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp paprika

Dressing
100ml olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1 clove crushed garlic
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste